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Cover of book and my very similar picture I
took in 2003
Five years for an adult,
passes in five minutes. Five years for a kid is a lifetime. An attempted
bike stealing incident in Glasgow when Raymond Moore was 13 led to him
living in Linicro on the Isle of Skye with his Great Granny and Great
Aunt. His family stayed in the city whilst his life changed on the
island. Skye Stories tells the adventures he had growing up: the girls
he fancied, the sheep he worried and the music he loved. Although the
book is about Skye and his love for the island, the account of his
experiences and emotions will strike a chord with people who have never
been near there. Skye changed the author's life forever and for the
better. You could say the Isle of Skye saved his life. This book, Volume
1, tells the story of the first two years on Skye - the Linicro years.
Raymond Moore is a
Registered Nurse, living and working in Saudi Arabia with his wife and
three children. He also has a house and farm in Thailand. As well as
being a writer, Raymond has been a record label owner, band manager and
a singer with a band. Born and brought up in Glasgow, he left his
parents and moved to the Isle of Skye as a youngster, and his life
changed forever.
Can be purchased on
Amazon
Volume 2
The Road to Uig is already
written and is now available on Amazon.
I found the book to be
very well written and reminded me of my two visits to Skye. The first
was in 1966 and the next was in 2003 some 36 years later. It's actually
the first book I've read in which I found much I could relate to in my
own life. In fact some of the music he discussed mirrored my own tastes.
Good read and I highly recommend both to you.
Here is the Forewood from
Volume 2...
Raymond has written a
fascinating account of his years spent in the north of Skye. Over the
centuries the diaspora of Skye have longed for their ancestral home.
Raymond as a son of Skye was given that opportunity of leaving the West
of Scotland to embrace as a young teenager all that Skye would throw at
him. Urban Scotland and Skye can be described as worlds apart,
experiences may be different but, in some respects, it is the same
journey for a young person on their own rites of passage to adulthood.
Making friendships, exploring boundaries, experiencing music would have
been common themes for any young person whether on Skye or in Glasgow
but it is the human aspect of the personalities on Skye that make this
book, as well as the first volume, an enjoyable read.
Skye is shaped by many
things, its landscape, the environment, its history, its language but
above all it is shaped by its people. The island is full of characters
and, in this book, Raymond details many of those who were in his orbit
in Trotternish as well as at school in Portree. Whether you are from
Skye and will know many of the people in this book, or from elsewhere
you can relate to the people who make this island so special. Raymond
may be a long way and a long time from the island, the blood and the
memories remain strong nonetheless.
Ian Blackford
MP for Ross, Skye & Lochaber
15th February 2021
You can download the
Introduction to Volume 2 here in pdf
format
Two scenes of Uig from my
trip in 2003
See
pictures from my 3 day trip to Skye in 2003
See our Skye page where you can read some old books
about Skye. |
